Olivier Award-winning Return to the Forbidden Planet will land at the Wycombe Swan next week.

The spectacular show, which was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, follows Captain Tempest (Sean Needham) and his crew aboard their ship as they get caught in a meteor shower, meet mad scientist Dr Prospero on a mysterious planet in hyperspace and battle a monster, with a more than generous helping of classic rock songs along the way. 

The critically-acclaimed musical is making a return to the stage, 14 years after its last UK tour and Mark Newnham, who is reprising his role as Cookie in the show, is keen to get the show on the road.

Since training as an actor musician at Rose Bruford College, Mark has taken on the roles of Les in Bouncers, Simple Simon in Jack and the Beanstalk, and Craze in A Passionate Woman, as well as regularly composing and performing his own music, and designing scores for short films.

Perfectly timed with the beginning of half term, Mark is sure that kids and adults alike will enjoy the show.

“There is lots of rock n roll music and some fun space exploration. There’s lots of singing and guitar playing. The music is important but there’s also a good story to go with it. 

You get full-blown rock concert as well as an interesting story. Everyone will love the show, but you will especially enjoy it if you are a sci-fi fan because it’s about the advancement of technology too I guess.

“You can get up and have a boogie and have a good time.”

Mark says the role of Cookie, a cook onboard the ship, is ‘perfect’ for him.

“I've played Cookie twice before, two years ago, he’s a great character.  He’s a vulnerable, hopeless romantic lad who falls for the wrong girl. He’s just a lowly cook but he’s a also bit of a sweetheart really.

“It’s the perfect job for me, I get to play guitar and sing rock songs, what could be better? It really is the best mix for someone like me who loves music and acting.”

The show is packed full of energetic performances of classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes including Heard It Through the Grapevine, Johnny B. Goode, Great Balls of Fire and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.

It’s not hard to see why Mark, who admits he wanted to be a rock star when he was younger, loved performing these classic rock songs.  

He said: “My favourite part of the show is when we sing ‘She’s Not There’ by The Zombies. I get to do a big guitar solo which is amazing for me.

“And I love the part when we sing ‘Go Now’ by The Moody Blues because it’s like it was hand written for the show, it just goes so perfectly.”

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With stunning special effects, epic rock songs, a fire-breathing roller-skating robot and a huge green tentacled monster, it goes without saying that Mark had a blast while rehearsing the show.

“It was quite loud that’s for sure. But it was good fun, lots of people have to wear earplugs during the rehearsals but it’s a great show to rehearse because there is lots of slapstick humour and rocking out, what more could you want from a show?”

To top it off, Mark says the cast, which includes Steve Simmonds as Bosun, Christine Holman as Science Officer, Greg Last  as Navigation Officer, Jonathan Markwood as Prospero and Sarah Scowen as Miranda, get on well with each other, making working together that little bit easier.

He said: “We’ve all worked in the same sort of area before; some of us have even worked together before so we know each other very well and get on great.”

Return to the Forbidden Planet also stars world famous guitarist and founding member of Queen, Brian May, who will also appear via video projection as the Newscaster.

The 25th anniversary tour kicked off on 20 January and their ship lands at the Wycombe Swan on Monday.

“We kicked off the tour in Brighton which is where I’m from originally, so it’s nice to get started on the tour there. We’re all excited and ready and raring to go on the tour after rehearsals.

“Touring can get a bit difficult towards the end of the tour, when you’re missing family and friends back at home but it is a great way to interact with as many people as possible and it’s so good to be able to see the country.”

Despite rave reviews for the entire cast, Mark is adamant that he never reads any reviews of his performance.

 “I refuse to read any reviews, it’s a lose-lose situation. If you find out you’re doing well, you get too comfortable in your role and stop working so hard, or you get depressed for the rest of the tour if you get a bad review.

“I just give my best performance every time I go out on stage.”

Return to the Forbidden Planet is exploding onto the stage on Monday, 16 February  and will run until 21 February. Tickets range from £15 to £29.50, available online at www.wycombeswan.co.uk or by calling the ticket office on 01494 512 000.